Professor Andrei Serban, an award-winning director originally from Romania, quit his prestigious tenured position at Columbia University because the Ivy League school is "on its way toward full blown communism." The professor objected to the school's ban on hiring straight white males, even if they were the most qualified for the job. In addition, he opposed an applicant to the school, a transgender male, who he said was not believable as Juliet. Serban said that he felt that he could not violate his principles.

Pressured to admit transgender student

A Romania-born academic says he recently left his tenured position at Columbia University because the Ivy League school is "on its way toward full blown communism," according to a Romanian TV interview translated by a Romanian-American immigrant.

Prof. Andrei Serban, an award-winning director, complained about the increasing social justice demands he faced in the theater department in the interview, which aired on Romania's TVR1 Oct. 26. One prominent example he gave: pressure to admit a transgender applicant who auditioned as Juliet from "Romeo and Juliet."